


such a sucker (for a sweet talker) [ON HIATUS]

by sur (reclist)



Category: iKON (Korea Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, Eventual Smut, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:42:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reclist/pseuds/sur
Summary: When Chanwoo told Hanbin his cousin was transferring to their college, Hanbin didn’t think much of it. He doubted anything would change.He was wrong.Two weeks later, Hanbin watches a cute new guy walk into his composition class, but he doesn't make the connection.It's not until the weekend that he gets to see his friends again and, to Hanbin's surprise, Chanwoo introduces his cousin as Kim Jiwon, who happens to be the cute new guy from composition class.
Relationships: Kim Hanbin | B.I/Kim Jiwon | Bobby
Comments: 32
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> no ur not wrong, i deleted this fic a couple days ago and now im posting it again. sorry i was having a bad brain day. but here it is again! hope u enjoy

When Chanwoo told Hanbin his cousin was transferring to their college, Hanbin didn’t think much of it. He doubted anything would change.

He was wrong.

Two weeks later, Hanbin watches a cute new guy walk into his composition class, but he doesn't make the connection.

It's not until the weekend that he gets to see his friends again and, to Hanbin's surprise, Chanwoo introduces his cousin as Kim Jiwon, who happens to be the cute new guy from composition class.

"Hey," Jiwon greets everyone as he and Chanwoo make their way to settle on the couch in Junhwe's living room.

Junhwe's house has been their hideout since he moved in with Jinhwan off of campus, courtesy of Junhwe's ridiculous rich mom. The place is big enough to foster all six - now seven - of them, and just remote enough to throw parties and listen to loud music without getting complaints from the neighbors.

Hanbin stares at Jiwon until he stares back. "Oh," Hanbin says, for lack of a better brain.

Jiwon does a double take and points at him. "You– Where do I know you from?"

"Composition class," Hanbin answers.

"Oh, yeah!” Jiwon nods, smiling brightly. “Well, it's nice to meet you again."

Jiwon actually winks at Hanbin, and Hanbin has no idea how to react, so he doesn't. Maybe he imagined it.

It's not hard for Jiwon to feel comfortable, even surrounded by strangers. He has a quick wit and a good sense of humor, for the most part, at least. He is Chanwoo's cousin after all, and some bad jokes seem to run in the family.

He talks with Hanbin about their shared major, with Jinhwan about the latest drama, with Yunhyeong about his aunt's restaurant.

Hanbin is impressed by his social skills. If only.

Jiwon also seems to have a pretty high tolerance for alcohol. Or maybe Hanbin is too much of a lightweight.

Without even meaning to, Hanbin spends the whole night analyzing the curves and straight lines of Jiwon's face, intoxicated enough he convinces himself he's not being obvious and a little creepy.

Hanbin passes out on the couch early in the morning and doesn't wake up until past 5PM.

"Sleep well?" Donghyuk asks teasingly, sitting at the kitchen island with a fresh mug of coffee in his hands.

He yawns as a response, getting up from the couch to find his own fix of caffeine.

A couple hours later Donghyuk and Hanbin leave together to their shared dorm. The hangovers are making themselves felt, no matter how much painkillers and food they've eaten, so the first thing Hanbin does is get in bed and fall asleep again.

Donghyuk wakes him up two hours later.

"Don't fuck up your sleep schedule too much," he tells Hanbin.

Hanbin is groggy and annoyed, but at the end of the day Donghyuk is right.

He still has some homework due Monday, and if he doesn't get it done now he may never.

He's getting his textbooks from his bag and setting them down on his desk when Donghyuk speaks.

"Jiwon seems nice, right?" Hanbin hums back, clearly not paying attention as he opens one of the books. "The sky is green," Donghyuk tests.

"Yeah," Hanbin answers.

Donghyuk walks up to him and pokes him in the ribs.

Hanbin startles and looks at Donghyuk with a frown. "What was that for?"

"You're not listening to me."

"I'm trying to do homework," Hanbin says as he goes back to his books.

"Answer me one question first."

Hanbin rolls his eyes. He turns to face Donghyuk and makes a gesture for him to ask away.

"What's up with Jiwon?" Hanbin looks confused. "I didn't know you had met him already."

"I didn't know it was him until yesterday."

Donghyuk doesn't seem to buy it, but he lets it pass nonetheless.

"So, what's going on now?"

"What do you mean?" Hanbin asks back. He really needs to get back to his work before he loses all motivation.

"You stared at him the whole night."

Hanbin blushes red. "I didn't."

Donghyuk chuckles. "You did. It's fine," he clarifies. "You're allowed to like him."

"I-" Hanbin tries, but he doesn't really have anything to say. Instead, he settles for, "I think he's cute."

Donghyuk smiles sweetly and pats Hanbin's head. "I know you're pretty new at this–” Hanbin is instantly offended. "So if you need help just come to me."

And with that, Donghyuk finally leaves Hanbin alone.

It takes him a while to focus again. Jokes aside, Hanbin really doesn't have any romantic experience outside of watching movies. He can barely talk to the barista at Starbucks without embarrassing himself.

But most importantly, just because he finds Jiwon hot doesn't automatically mean he wants to date. He barely even knows the guy.

Hanbin finishes his homework an hour later and is fooling around on his phone watching YouTube when a text comes in. It reads,

"Hey, Hanbin! It's Jiwon. Chanwoo gave me your number."

Hanbin rereads the message three times. Is this a joke? Are the guys messing with him?

Hanbin decides buying it and looking like a fool is better than accidentally ignoring Jiwon and have him think he’s an asshole.

The only problem is he has no idea what to send back.

He tries a couple different things until settling for a safe, "Hi."

Maybe too safe.

Jiwon sends a smiley emoji and that's the end of the conversation.

As expected, Jiwon starts hanging out with them pretty much any time he can. He and Chanwoo are very close, so Jiwon is always around.

Hanbin hasn’t talked to the guy enough to feel comfortable on his own with him, but that’s exactly what happens one afternoon as Hanbin is buying food in the cafeteria.

The cashier is handing Hanbin his sandwich when someone behind him says, “Hi.”

Hanbin startles so bad he almost drops his food. He turns around, about to give the stranger the stinky eye, when he looks and realizes it’s Jiwon.

“H-hi,” Hanbin answers.

“Sorry, did I scare you?” Jiwon giggles.

Hanbin wants to play it cool and say no, but he’s the furthest guy away from cool and he’s not a very good liar either.

He smiles shyly instead. “Yeah.”

“Sorry,” he says. “Let me treat you to lunch to compensate.”

Before Hanbin can decline, Jiwon is already getting his wallet out and paying for Hanbin's sandwich. “I’ll take a cheeseburger, too,” he tells the cashier.

Once they get their orders, Hanbin leads them outside towards one of the picnic tables in the backyard.

“This is so nice,” Jiwon says as they sit down, looking around. “My old college barely had a backyard, let alone one that looks like a garden.”

“Yeah,” Hanbin agrees. “I’ll admit I take it for granted. I come here every free period I have between classes, though.”

Jiwon smiles. “Let me know next time and we can hang.”

Hanbin is a little taken aback, but he nods anyway. “Sure.”

They eat in silence, and it surprises Hanbin how comfortable the quietness is.

Hanbin is about to ask something, anything, to start a conversation when he’s interrupted by Jiwon’s phone going off. “Fuck,” Jiwon says, frowning at the screen. “Gotta go, I lost track of time. It’s my first practice today, can’t be late.”

Hanbin raised a brow. “Practice?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Jiwon answers as he takes his bag and the leftovers of his lunch to throw them in the nearest bin. “Football. It’s how I got a scholarship here.”

Hanbin makes a noise of surprise. “I had no idea. Good luck.”

Jiwon smiles at him. “Thanks,” he says and he turns around to leave. Before he gets too far, though, he turns around and yells, “Promise me you’ll come watch my first match next Sunday?”

Hanbin can only nod in agreement and watch Jiwon jog back inside the building.


	2. Chapter 2

Wednesday morning finds Donghyuk jumping on top of Hanbin while he’s asleep.

“What the fuck?” Hanbin tries to say, but it’s muffled against the pillow.

“Wake up, sleepy head,” Donghyuk says, giving no explanation as to why he’s waking Hanbin up.

It feels like he fell asleep five minutes ago, and it takes Hanbin a solid minute to ask, “What time is it?”

“Almost eight,” Donghyuk answers. _Fuck_ , Hanbin thinks. He has definitely not slept enough to deal with the day. “Your alarm went off twice,” Donghyuk tells him. “But you looked so cute sleeping, I didn’t want to bother you.”

Hanbin makes an inhuman noise as a response. He feels Donghyuk finally getting up from over him and hears him go into the bathroom.

“Don’t be late!” Donghyuk yells from behind the closed door.

Hanbin gathers enough energy to check his phone’s notifications, making sure nothing important has happened in the three hours he got to sleep.

Stress had him up most of the night, thinking about the homework he didn’t do, the projects he hasn’t finished. He’s been in a slump lately, and it feels like nothing helps.

He doesn’t have the luxury to sleep in nor take some free time to get inspired, so he reluctantly gets up, changes into some clothes and waits for Donghyuk to get out from the bathroom so he can brush his teeth and splash some water on his face and be on his way.

First period passes by quickly, and before he realizes it’s composition class time. Which means Jiwon, which means Hanbin starts getting nervous. Fuck pretty boys and the impact they have on him.

When he walks in the classroom, Jiwon is already sitting down in the back of the class, and Hanbin makes his way over, trying not to think too hard about sitting next to Jiwon.

“Morning,” he greets.

Jiwon nods and smiles. “Morning.”

Hanbin sits next to him, and soon enough the teacher is walking in the classroom.

Most of class is theory stuff, which Hanbin already knows, because he’s a nerd and he’s been studying music theory since he was old enough to know you could compose your own music.

He steals some glances at Jiwon, who’s scribbling down pretty much everything the teacher says.

Every now and then, Jiwon makes an ' _ohh_ ’ noise, like he’s finally putting together the pieces of a puzzle.

Hanbin finds it debilitatingly endearing. He’s tempted to ask Jiwon if he needs help, but he’s scared he’ll come out as a self-absorbed know-it-all, so he stays quiet and enjoys the show. Jiwon looks like a kid in a candy store.

The teacher finishes the lesson ten minutes before class ends and gives the students the remaining time to do whatever they want.

Jiwon looks at Hanbin and at the blank sheet of paper in front of him and says, “You haven’t written down anything.”

Hanbin tries to think of a way to answer that doesn’t make him sound too bad, “I knew most of it already,” he obviously fails.

Jiwon chuckles. “Next time I have a question I won’t bother Googling,” he says. “I’ll just ask you.” His tone is half joking, half serious, so Hanbin takes the chance and answers,

“Sure,” with a smile.

Jiwon smiles back at him, going back to his notes and doodling random stuff in the margins.

Soon after, the teacher dismisses them, and the students make their way out of the classroom.

As they leave, Jiwon waves Hanbin goodbye before disappearing into the group of people making their way through the hallway.

Hanbin gets back to his dorm hours later, ready to take a nap before his work shift starts.

Donghyuk has Yunhyeong over, and he tells Hanbin hi when he walks in.

“Hey,” Hanbin replies.

Donghyuk and Yunhyeong are working on a paper for their English class, Donghyuk’s laptop open with some Youtube video Hanbin figures their teacher linked them to.

He’s too considerate to tell them to lower the volume, meaning he doesn’t get any nap time, and by the time the clock strikes 5:30PM, Hanbin feels like a living zombie.

He walks into work with a frown on his face, sleep deprivation and schoolwork stress getting the best of him.

“Well, you look in a good mood,” Jisoo says to him from behind the counter.

Hanbin ignores her as he makes his way to the backroom to get his apron and clock in.

“I just want to sleep for two days,” he tells her once he’s back.

“Trouble in paradise?” she asks.

“If you can call hours of homework paradise,” he answers.

The coffee shop is quiet, Hanbin was lucky enough to get the late afternoon shift, so he misses most of the rush hour.

“You coming to Junhwe’s party on Friday?” he asks her.

Jisoo smiles brightly. If there’s someone who loves parties almost as much as Junhwe himself, it’s Jisoo. “Fuck yeah,” she answers. “It’s the only thing I’m looking forward to this week.”

Hanbin giggles, “Isn’t that kind of sad?”

Jisoo shrugs, but doesn’t deny it.

Jisoo and Hanbin’s work schedules overlap for only half an hour, so soon enough she’s checking out and saying goodbye to Hanbin, wishing him a good rest of the day.

A couple people come in, ordering some late afternoon coffee, but otherwise not much happens.

Until Jiwon walks in, that is.

He’s with a girl Hanbin has never seen before, but he doesn’t get to think anything of it before Jiwon is right in front of him.

Hanbin doesn’t know where to hide. Usually he has enough time to figure out what to say, how to act in front of Jiwon, but Hanbin can’t come up with a plan fast enough.

“Hi–” Jiwon starts. “Hanbin?” He says, obviously surprised, and his smile is the size of the moon.

Hanbin mentally kicks himself, his brain going into panic mode and trying to think of something normal to say. “Yes,” is what he comes up with.

“Didn’t know you worked here,” Jiwon says.

“Unfortunately,” Hanbin jokes. “It’s not that bad, though,” he corrects himself.

“Had I known I would’ve come here sooner,” Jiwon flirts, though he quickly changes his demeanor. “This is Jennie, friend from high school.”

Hanbin isn’t sure what to answer other than, “What can I get you?”

“Two grande Cookies & Cream Frappuccinos, please.”

Hanbin nods as he grabs two cups and writes their names down.

Hanbin prepares the drinks, and he can feel Jiwon’s stare on him the whole time. It makes Hanbin put on a performance out of serving a drink, too self-conscious of what Jiwon might think of him.

After Hanbin slides their drinks across the counter, Jiwon tells him, “Thanks, sweetheart.” And Hanbin straight up melts inside.

Jiwon walks away with Jennie towards one of the couches in the back of the room, and Hanbin breathes a sigh of relief now that the conversation is over.

What’s not over, though, are Hanbin’s thoughts.

Is Hanbin that oblivious or is Jiwon flirting? If Jiwon is, does Hanbin even want anything beyond a friendship with him? Or is Hanbin overvaluating himself, and Jiwon wouldn’t even think about dating Hanbin? Does he have a chance? Does he even _want_ a chance? Does he only want a chance to flatter his ego? 

He overthinks everything until he gets tired of himself, and uses work as an excuse to think about something else. He cleans the coffee machine, even though Jisoo did that before she left, he goes over all the dishes and washes them again – just to make sure, he wipes the counter, counts the number of plastic cups on the counter, until he has nothing left to do.

Eventually, Jiwon waves Hanbin goodbye as he walks out of the coffee shop with Jennie.

Hanbin watches him leave, and wishes he had the courage to get as close to Jiwon as he wants to.

He definitely likes Jiwon as a friend, but anything beyond that... Hanbin isn’t sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaand we're back where we started! expect weekly updates from now on. [as always follow me on twitter if youd like.](https://twitter.com/slutjinhwans) and your kudos and comments keep me going!! thank you for reading <3


	3. Chapter 3

Hanbin has never been in love. He’s barely even ever kissed anyone, and that is only if you count the peck he secretly gave to his crush in kindergarten.

However, he’s a great love songs writer, if you ask him. What he lacks in personal experience he makes up for in resources. He watches movies, TV shows, listens to music, sometimes even grabs inspiration from his friends’ relationships. With time, he’s found ways to compensate.

But lately he’s drawing a blank. His usual methods aren’t working, and while there’s no rush to finish a song, Hanbin is a workaholic and not being able to write new music or finish pending projects stresses him.

And it hasn’t happened yet, but composition class will soon require him to write at least something.

It’s nearing midnight when Hanbin decides he cannot keep this up anymore and leaves the dorms to walk around campus. He’s not supposed to at this hour, but he’s not worried he’ll get caught. Their campus security isn’t exactly the best.

Donghyuk is asleep, so he silently grabs his headphones, keys, and puts on a hoodie before walking out to the chilly winter air.

He walks absentmindedly around the park until he can’t feel the cold anymore. He looks up at the stars and bobs his head to the music, trying to think of feelings or conflicts or a story to write about.

Almost on accident, he ends up under the tree where he spends his free periods. He sits down and leans against it, opening the notes app in his phone, tentatively typing random words and hoping something will stick.

No luck, though. Hanbin is getting more frustrated each passing day. He’s no stranger to writer’s block, but it’s never lasted this long.

He’s about to give up for the night when his phone rings with a text message.

“Hey, you awake?” 

It’s from Jiwon.

Hanbin smiles to himself and types back, “Unfortunately.”

“Can’t sleep?”

“Been trying to write but nothing’s coming out. You?”

“Homesick. Family’s in Korea, haven’t seen them in a while.”

Hanbin frowns at his screen and sends, “Sorry, man, I had no idea.” He stops for a second to carefully think about his next words. “Can I help you feel better?”

“Call me?” Comes Jiwon’s instantaneous response.

Hanbin is about to freak out when he realizes he doesn’t have time to do so unless he wants to give Jiwon the wrong impression.

He presses the call button and holds his breath, deciding to wing the conversation and trusting that Jiwon will lead.

“Hi,” Hanbin says, softly.

“Hey,” Jiwon answers. “No inspiration tonight?”

“Or ever,” Hanbin chuckles. “It’s been a couple days already. I’m not used to spending so much time not writing.”

“Ah, I knew it,” Jiwon says, and Hanbin has no idea what he means. “I would’ve bet you were a music nerd.”

“Nerd?”

“Yeah,” Jiwon answers with a hint of laughter. “Like, breathe, eat, sleep music nerd.”

Hanbin can’t really argue against that. “I guess you’re right. I’m still offended though,” he says jokingly.

Jiwon giggles on the other side of the line. “So, tell me what troubles you.”

“That’s all,” he answers. “Your troubles seem more serious than mine.”

Hanbin has the feeling Jiwon is more upset than he lets himself show.

“Nah,” Jiwon dismisses him. “I just miss them. Happens to the best of us.”

Hanbin isn’t buying it though. “I didn’t know they lived overseas, did you move here on your own?”

“With my older brother. We stayed with Chanwoo and his family until I got the scholarship here and could move into the dorms.” Hanbin hums, encouraging him to go on. “There’s not much else to say.”

“When was the last time you saw them?” Hanbin asks.

Jiwon is quiet for a few seconds. “Three years, almost.”

Hanbin doesn’t know what to say. He might fight with his parents every now and then and wishes in his anger they’d just leave him alone, but he couldn’t imagine not seeing them for such a long time.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Jiwon reassures him. “Really. I call them on Skype a couple times a week and that helps a lot.” Hanbin stays silent, not knowing what to say next. “Tell me about you, I’ve talked enough about myself. It’s your turn.”

Hanbin smiles. “I don’t have anything to talk about, I’m pretty boring.” Hanbin mentally kicks himself for saying that, _nice flirting asshole_.

“Talk to me about your writing slump, then.”

“Well,” Hanbin starts. “It’s a slump.” He can hear Jiwon giggling. “Usually it doesn’t last this long. I don’t know what’s different this time.”

“So what do you usually do when you hit a block?”

“Watch movies?” In a moment of bravery, Hanbin confesses, “I like writing love songs, even though I’ve never experienced it, so I steal from other places a lot.”

Jiwon takes a minute to answer, and when he does, it takes Hanbin aback. “So, you’re not dating anyone?”

Hanbin isn’t sure how they got from point A to point B but, somehow, they did. “Uh, no, I’m not.”

“Me neither,” Jiwon says.

“Oh,” is all Hanbin can answer. He waits for Jiwon to speak again but he doesn’t. “Uh,” Hanbin says. “I should get inside, it’s freezing.”

“What do you mean? Where are you?”

“I’m... Sitting outside under a tree.”

Jiwon bursts out laughing. “Dude! It’s the middle of winter, what’s wrong with you?”

Hanbin blushes and is eternally grateful Jiwon can’t see him. “I just needed some air.”

Jiwon keeps giggling a little while longer. “Get your ass inside, don’t catch a cold. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Hanbin says with a smile.

When he gets to his room Hanbin throws himself on his bed, not even bothering to change clothes. He opens the notes app on his phone again and writes the word _Airplane_. The rest of the lyrics flow more easily than they’ve had in a while.

By Friday Hanbin is back to his usual self. He’s done with all his classes for the day so he heads to his room.

When he walks in he finds Chanwoo beating Yunhyeong’s ass in Mario Kart while Donghyuk laughs.

“Hey,” Hanbin greets them, but they’re too focused to pay him any mind.

Hanbin drops his stuff on the floor and throws himself on the bed, joining the game as a viewer.

“Do you wanna play?” Chanwoo offers him, but if there’s one thing that Hanbin sucks more at than socializing, it’s video games.

“Nah,” he answers. “I’m cool with just watching.”

Donghyuk jumps at the opportunity, “My turn, then.”

Napping is very tempting right now, so Hanbin shuts his eyes, covers himself with the blankets and lets himself disconnect for a little while.

An hour later he’s woken up by his phone ringing. It’s on vibrate, but some of his contacts are marked as priority. Hanbin’s first thought is that it’s his mom, but he’s wrong.

“Hanbinnie,” the message reads. “U busy?”

It takes a second for Hanbin’s half-sleep mind to connect the dots. It’s Jiwon. Calling him Hannbinnie.

Hanbin’s heart makes a little jump, but he’s too groggy to deal with what that might mean, so he buries it deep and types back,

“Hi. You woke me up from a nap so not anymore.”

Hanbin looks at the text and analyzes if it sounds like the joke he intends it to be, or if he just sounds like a grumpy asshole.

He adds an emoji at the end, and hopes it sends the intended message across.

The response comes quickly. “Sorry!!! But now that you’re awake, wanna hang out? I have a free period.”

Hanbin bites his lower lip as he rereads it a couple times.

“Sure,” is what he sends back.

“Meet me at the picnic table from last time?”

Hanbin sends a thumbs up emoji, and gets up to wash his face, brush his teeth and change his clothes.

Donghyuk notices him and says, “You got a date?”

Hanbin hates how quick Donghyuk is.

“Shut up,” he answers as he walks out the door.

Jiwon is scribbling down on a paper when Hanbin sits down next to him.

“Hey,” Hanbin says.

“Gimme a sec,” Jiwon answers, still staring down. A few seconds later Jiwon finishes and smiles at Hanbin. “Hey, dude. How are you?”

“Still kind of sleepy,” Hanbin says honestly. “What are you writing?”

Jiwon grabs the sheet in question and folds it, putting it in his pocket. “Secret.”

Hanbin rolls his eyes. “Fine,” he says trying to hide a smile.

“I’ll finish it by Monday and play it in composition class, promise.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Hanbin says honestly.

They talk about classes, the professors, and general small talk for a little while.

There’s a minute of silence before Hanbin speaks again. “Are you okay?” he asks, and Jiwon frowns at him. “About your family, I mean. Are you still homesick?”

Jiwon smiles. “I’m okay. I Skyped my mom this morning and it helped a lot.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” and it surprises Hanbin how much he means it.

That’s when a thought occurs to him. He opens his mouth but nothing comes out, the gears in his brain turning to find the right wording.

Jiwon notices him hesitating. “What is it?” He pushes.

Hanbin takes a deep breath and decides if he doesn’t just say it straight up, he won’t at all. “There’s a party tonight.”

Hanbin isn’t expecting Jiwon’s answer. “Yeah, at Junhwe and Jinhwan’s, right? Chanwoo told me about it.”

Hanbin nods, for lack of a better thing to say. He wasn’t expecting Jiwon to know already, even though it makes total sense.

He’s saved from answering by Jiwon speaking again. “But...” he hesitates, and Hanbin has never heard Jiwon hesitate before. “I’d love to go with you, if you’ll have me.”

Hanbin draws a blank. _Fuck_ , he thinks, he wasn’t prepared for that comeback. It takes him a few seconds too many, but ultimately a smile creeps up on him and he can’t hide his excitement. “Yeah,” he says. “My pleasure.”

It sounds very corny, but it’s the best Hanbin can do, having in mind this isn’t how he imagined the conversation to go down.

And just like that, Hanbin has made plans for the entire weekend, counting Jiwon’s game on Sunday.

This isn’t how Hanbin pictured his college life to be like– it’s a dozen times better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all this ch isn't betad so sorry for any mistakes, feel free to point them out. as always, [find me on twitter,](https://twitter.com/slutjinhwans) and comments and kudos are what motivate me to write. hope you liked this chapter, thank u for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Yunhyeong invites himself to Hanbin and Donghyuk’s dorm a couple hours before Junhwe and Jinhwan’s party starts.

Which is more than welcome, because Hanbin is panicking and the more opinions he gets, the more secure he’ll feel.

“I feel like this is too much,” Hanbin says, wearing a full on three piece, checking himself out in the mirror.

Yunhyeong’s face looks so funny Hanbin would laugh if he weren’t so worried. “That is definitely too much,” Yunhyeong says. He turns around to rummage through Hanbin’s closet and picks a white v-neck shirt and a pair of skinny black jeans. “This,” he concludes. “Maybe a jacket on top, if you’re cold.”

Hanbin says nothing as he takes the outfit from Yunhyeong’s hands and starts changing clothes, muttering something along the lines of, “I knew it was too much. I fucking knew a suit would be too much and yet, and _yet_ , I almost wore it. Like an asshole.”

Donghyuk and Yunhyeong exchange looks, trying their best not to burst out laughing at Hanbin’s misery.

“The less you overthink, the better,” Donghyuk tells Hanbin.

If looks could kill, Donghyuk would be a dead corpse by now. “But I am, obviously, overthinking it. Otherwise I wouldn’t need your dumbasses to help me.” Hanbin is so mad he almost shoves both his legs into one of the holes of his jeans.

Jiwon and Chanwoo will be there to pick Hanbin up in an hour, and Donghyuk and Yunhyeong too by default. Hanbin knows it’s not the most romantic set up, but it’s the only one they’ve got to work with.

Once he’s properly dressed, Hanbin sits down on his bed and lets out a heavy sigh. “I can’t fuck this up,” he says, mostly to himself.

“You won’t,” Yunhyeong reassures him nonetheless.

Hanbin focuses on his breathing. And also on every possible scenario that could happen, just so he’s ready to deal with whatever comes his way.

“You need to chill,” Donghyuk tells Hanbin with a frown on his face. “Like, for real. Jiwon obviously likes you.” That sentence makes Hanbin bury his face in his hands, but Donghyuk goes on. “I promise, you’ll be fine.”

Hanbin throws himself on his back on his mattress. A weird noise escapes from his throat.

“Chill the fuck out,” Yunhyeong says, and it catches Hanbin by surprise. Yunhyeong isn’t the type to speak like that. “Whatever happens, just go with the flow. I know you’re worried, but you’ll know the right thing to say or do when it happens. It’s obvious Jiwon likes you for who you are, so just be yourself, and the rest will fall into place.”

It’s not bad advice, and Hanbin can only hope he can do as Yunhyeong says.

Even after all the coaching and reassurance from Yunhyeong and Donghyuk, Hanbin still gets startled by the knock on their dorm room.

Hanbin gets up, almost in a panic, and says, “Come on in.”

Jiwon peaks his head in. He looks at everyone in the room and a big smile appears on his face when he spots Hanbin. “Hey guys,” he says, stepping into the dorm. “Ready to go?”

Luckily, Junhwe and Jinhwan’s apartment is only a few blocks away from campus, so they walk the small distance on foot, the rest of the guys leading a small talk conversation, as Hanbin listens carefully but doesn’t add anything.

Since they are the best friends, they arrive on the dot to help with the finishing touches– like hiding valuables in the locked master bedroom, setting up ashtrays all over the house, opening all the windows to let the air in and so on before anyone else shows up.

There’s two kegs and a fridge full of various drinks in the kitchen, and that’s where Jiwon and Hanbin hang out as the rest of the guests arrive. Chanwoo, Donghyuk, Yunhyeong, Junhwe and Jinhwan are chilling in the living room, obviously leaving Hanbin alone with Jiwon on purpose. Hanbin isn’t sure if he’s thankful or not.

“This is sweet,” Jiwon says looking around the kitchen. “My high school parties could only wish to have this set up.”

Hanbin giggles, “I guess so, but I wouldn’t know. Junhwe and Jinhwan have always thrown the sickest parties even in high school, they’ve been living together for a long time now.”

Jiwon hums, staring at his drink. “I have to admit, I’m kind of jealous.” Hanbin is about to giggle, assuming Jiwon means he’s jealous about having parties, but Jiwon goes on to say something that really catches Hanbin by surprise. “It’s not easy to maintain a relationship over the years.”

Hanbin would have never, ever thought Jiwon was that kind of hopeless romantic. He has no idea what to say.

Jiwon seems to sense the awkwardness in the room, though, and he quickly changes the subject. “So, when did you start composing?”

Hanbin takes a second to digest the prior conversation, but he’s quick to catch up. “Around twelve, I think. As soon as I figured out you could write your own music, really.” He hopes he doesn’t sound like a nerd again, but Jiwon’s look lets him know the damage has been done. “Don’t laugh at me,” Hanbin says, rolling his eyes and trying not to laugh himself.

Jiwon smirks at him. “It’s fine. I figured you’d say something like that.”

Hanbin can’t even argue against him. He looks down at his now empty drink and heads to the keg to fill himself another glass of beer. He gestures at Jiwon to do the same for him, and Jiwon hands him his own empty cup with a, “Thanks.”

“So, what about you?” Hanbin asks.

Jiwon thinks for a second. “A couple years ago. Found this chick on Youtube who made videos explaining how she wrote her own music, kind of like tutorials, and it was all downhill from there.”

Jiwon and Hanbin talk about it some more, exchanging ideas and processes and tricks, until there’s enough people walking in the kitchen they know the party has already started.

They head to the living room to find the house filled with more people than they thought. Even to Hanbin, who’s already experienced his fair share of parties thrown by his friends, this is a new attendance record.

It takes them longer than expected to find their friends. Chanwoo, Junhwe and Jinhwan are sitting on a couch in the far back of the room, but the rest are nowhere to be found.

“Hey,” Junhwe says when he spots them. “We outdid ourselves, didn’t we?” He says, cocky as only Junhwe can be.

Hanbin can only nod in agreement. “Yeah. I’ll give it to you. Where are Yun and Dong?”

“Dancing,” Jinhwan gestures to the crowd before lifting his drink to take a sip.

Hanbin gets on his tiptoes to look above all the heads until he spots them, Donghyuk grinding against Yunhyeong from behind. They must be already buzzed to do this in public, Donghyuk is a bit of an exhibitionist but Yunhyeong is on the pruder side. They’re the sweetest, most lovey dovey couple who love pda, but the second the conversation turns the slightest bit dirty Yunhyeong gets red and flushed.

It makes for great material to tease him, but it looks like it won’t be enough tonight.

Hanbin isn’t jealous. The first thing he feels is happiness for his friends. But the second is an unexpected urge to have someone close to him too. Not necessarily a date for more than the night, just someone to be here right now, dancing and flirting with him.

He must have drank way more than he’s aware of, because in his right mind the only thing crowds and couples make him want to do is go back home, maybe nap.

He’s been in his own head for a second too long until Jiwon’s voice snaps him out of it.

“Hey.”

Hanbin barely manages to hide his startle. “Hey.”

Jiwon takes a step closer to him, looks him in the eyes and says, “Wanna dance?”

If there’s one scenario Hanbin has been running through his mind over and over again, it was this.

“No, thank you,” he answers exactly as he planned. “I don’t like dancing.” He risks being boring, but it’s still way better than publicly humiliated.

“Uhm..,” Jiwon says, looking suspicious. “What is it, then?”

Hanbin is very confused. “What’s what?”

“You were looking at the crowd very intensively. If it wasn’t because you want to dance, then what?”

“I–” Hanbin tries.

Jiwon smiles so sweetly it leaves him without words.

“Okay, let’s do this, then,” Jiwon proposes. “I’ll take you dancing, you can follow my lead. If after you try it you still don’t want to, then you’re free to go. But give me a chance, yeah?”

Hanbin is split between the small part of him that’s still sober and the big part of him that’s drunk. It doesn’t take a genius to guess which one ends up winning.

“Fine,” he agrees. “But nothing crazy.”

Jiwon takes Hanbin’s hand in his and starts pulling him through the crowd.

“I’ll be gentle,” Jiwon says with a wink. Hanbin’s jaw almost drops.

Oh, God, what has he gotten himself into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, thank you for reading i hope yall are liking it so far, let me know what you think!! ! you can also [find me on twitter](https://twitter.com/slutjinhwan) <3


	5. Chapter 5

Hanbin thinks a David Guetta song is playing, but he’s not an expert on EDM so he can’t be sure. Anyways, he has more pressing problems. Like how the fuck do you dance to this?

It doesn’t seem to be an issue for Jiwon, who’s leading them to the center of the room, probably so Hanbin doesn’t feel too exposed out in the open, instead hidden in between bodies.

“Just let loose,” Jiwon says. He’s not nearly as drunk as Hanbin, or maybe he’s just good at playing sober.

Hanbin takes a deep breath and looks at Jiwon and at his childish smile. “Okay. What now?”

Jiwon straight up laughs. “Dude, you’re bad at this.” Hanbin is ready to yell at him because he _said_ he didn’t do this. Jiwon forced him and told him it was okay if he didn’t want to do it and Hanbin did it _anyway_ and– Jiwon senses Hanbin’s outburst before it happens and says, “Okay, okay, I get it, sorry. It’s on me.”

Hanbin pouts. Jiwon thinks he’s adorable.

“So, what now?” He asks again.

Jiwon grabs him by the shoulders and starts shaking him in time with the music. “Chillax. Just move your feet one way then the other, let your arms loose.”

Hanbin, still getting shaked lets out a shaky, “Fine.”

Hanbin does as Jiwon says, but soon enough Jiwon is laughing again. “Okay, okay, you’re thinking too much.” Jiwon offers his glass of screwdriver to Hanbin. “Here, take a sip, you’re too stiff.”

Hanbin complies. Maybe he should tell Jiwon he’s not a good drinker. Like, at all. Like, the room is slightly spinning already.

But Hanbin figures, fuck it, if this is what he needs right now, he’ll take it. He’ll work on doing it sober next time.

He takes a couple gulps, rather than sips, and he feels the burn of the vodka in the back of his throat. He ends up coughing a little, because he couldn’t be any more embarrassing than he already is.

Jiwon giggles. “Don’t down the entire thing in one go unless you wanna end up getting sick.”

“It’s fine,” Hanbin says, and hopes Jiwon’s words aren’t foreshadowing the rest of the night.

Hanbin isn’t paying any mind to the alcohol anymore. He’s too busy fixating on the fact he just indirectly kissed Jiwon.

Call him a child, whatever. Jiwon’s lips were on the rim of that cup, then Hanbin’s lips were on the rim of that same cup. Do the math.

The rest of the night flows smoothly. Hanbin finally lets go, he starts having fun, and Jiwon keeps getting closer. Hanbin is too buzzed to be nervous. Instead, he plays into it, presses his body against Jiwon’s, wraps his arms around his neck as they both sing the song playing in the background. It’s playful and nice and easy and Hanbin can’t remember the last time he felt so good with so little.

“You–” Hanbin tries. He thinks about it for a second before continuing. “You’re really pretty.”

Jiwon smirks. "So I’ve been told. You're pretty yourself.”

Hanbin frowns. He decides to ignore the compliment altogether before he comes out too insecure. “Not fair. Pretty boys like you can get whatever they want.”

“Is that true?”

Hanbin rolls his eyes. “You know it is.”

“Then,” Jiwon says and licks his lips. “Does that mean I’m getting a kiss?”

Hanbin blushes, even more red than the alcohol already made him. “Do you want one?”

Jiwon giggles. “I just asked.”

“From me?” Hanbin’s voice gets a little high pitched at the end of the question.

“Who else?”

“You could literally get anyone you want.”

“And yet,” Jiwon says, arm wrapping around Hanbin’s waist and pressing him impossibly closer. “I only want you.”

Hanbin is about to reply something, anything, when he becomes hyper aware of his stomach.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no fucking way. Not now.

“Fuck,” is all Hanbin can say before he’s running away, heading for the bathroom.

“Hanbin?” He can hear Jiwon yell after him.

Fifteen minutes later finds Hanbin sitting on the curve outside Junhwe and Jinhwan’s house. He has a half full water bottle in his hand, his hair and face wet after he washed up in the bathroom.

After he puked all over the toilet. Twice.

Saying Hanbin wants the Earth to swallow him whole would be an understatement.

At least Junhwe gave him a new toothbrush, so his mouth doesn't feel as disgusting anymore.

"You feeling better?" Says Jiwon from behind him.

Hanbin only groans in response.

Jiwon sits next to him and pats him on the back. "Don't worry too much, happens to the best of us."

Hanbin buries his face in his hands. "I can't even look at you right now."

Jiwon laughs at him, and if Hanbin weren't feeling so embarrassed he'd slap him.

"You didn't answer my question."

Hanbin sighs. "Bit better. Still not sober, though." Hanbin waits a second before saying, "Please do me a favor and leave before I make this worse for both of us."

"Not happening," Jiwon says. "Might not have needed to hold your hair back in the stall but I've got your back."

"You are too nice," Hanbin says with a chuckle.

"I also would love to hear more about how pretty I am."

Hanbin whines so loud it cracks Jiwon up.

"I'm moving to Mexico. Fuck this."

"But I'd miss you," Jiwon says with an exaggerated pout.

Hanbin groans. "I'm not used to hot people hitting on me. You're way out of my league." 

Hanbin is slurring his words, and Jiwon feels almost guilty for taking advantage of his state to get some more compliments. Almost.

"Hanbin," Jiwon says seriously, looking down at his hands on his lap. "I like you. I think you're hot. I think you're funny. I think you're interesting. I'm not out of your league, but you're exactly in mine."

When Jiwon looks up again, Hanbin has his eyes closed, head down, and Jiwon realizes he was talking to himself. 

Jiwon rolls his eyes, but still pushes Hanbin closer to rest his head on Jiwon's shoulder.

Minutes later Jinhwan comes outside and heads towards them. "Hey," he greets Jiwon. "You can crash here if you want. Most people are gone."

"That'd be great, actually," Jiwon says with a smile.

"How's Hanbin?"

"Asleep," Jiwon answers, looking at him.

Jinhwan notices the way Jiwon looks at Hanbin, soft and tender, but he doesn't mention it.

"Well, whenever you're ready, come inside and I'll show you your room."

"Thanks, man."

Jinhwan nods and goes back inside, leaving Jiwon and Hanbin alone under the starry sky.

Jiwon eventually gets tired of sitting outside and pokes Hanbin in the ribs to wake him up.

Hanbin startles awake. "What?"

"Let's go to sleep, Sleeping Beauty."

"That's what I was doing," Hanbin argues, head back on Jiwon's shoulders.

Jiwon doesn't sit here and take it, though. He slides one arm under Hanbin's legs and the other around his back.

He picks up Hanbin bridal style so easily Hanbin would be impressed if he weren't so sleepy and still kind of drunk.

"You're like my prince in shining armor," Hanbin says, still loopy. "Are you carrying me to bed on our first date? At least take me to dinner first," he jokes.

"Are you sure you wanna keep talking?" Jiwon asks as he walks through the open front door and into the house. "Because while I have no problem with it, maybe your sober self will."

Hanbin hums but stays silent.

When Jinhwan spots them he giggles. "Married already?" 

Jiwon rolls his eyes. "Groom got too drunk before the actual ceremony."

Hanbin seems to be asleep again.

Jinhwan guides them to one of the guest rooms. "Only one bed, sorry. It's the only one left."

Jiwon puts Hanbin gently down on it, and covers him with the blanket at the feet of the bed.

"Thanks again, Jinan," Jiwon says, and they both wish each other goodnight.

Jiwon crawls under the covers and wishes he could cuddle Hanbin. Maybe one day. Hopefully soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poor hanbin :( thank u for reading and u can [find me on twitter<3](https://twitter.com/slutjinhwan)! let me know what you think so far uwu


	6. Chapter 6

When Hanbin wakes up the room has stopped spinning. Mostly.

His last recollection of events is a foggy memory of dancing with Jiwon, something about water, and the vague feeling of humiliation, though the cause is unknown.

Hanbin can’t remember most of yesterday night and even he, with his little to no experience with alcohol, knows that’s never a good sign.

There’s just enough light filtering through the closed windows to know it’s already daytime. It takes Hanbin a second to recognize the room he’s in. Junhwe and Jinhwan’s guest bedroom.

Okay, at least he didn’t fall asleep on a park bench or something.

What he realizes next is that he’s not alone in the bed.

Hanbin both panics and tells himself not to panic at the same time. If he moves too much he might wake up whoever is next to him, and he’s not great at morning-afters. Mostly for lack of practice.

Hanbin takes a deep breath to assess the situation. He’s wearing clothes. That’s good, maybe he didn’t go all the way. He touches around his neck to feel if there are any hickeys and finds nothing.

He sneaks a hand down his boxers to make sure they’re not stained. That’s good too.

Maybe he didn’t even have sex with this person, maybe they just fell asleep on the same bed.

He has two options now. He can get up and leave and pretend nothing happened, if anything at all, or he can find out who’s asleep next to him and get some answers.

It does not take him long at all to decide running away is the easiest option.

He has a hand on the door handle when he hears the bedsheets shuffle. Hanbin makes the split second decision of looking back, see who was asleep next to him.

At first he’s sure his mind is playing tricks on him. There’s no way, there’s no way. And yet, there he is, Jiwon, sleeping soundly in the same bed Hanbin was.

Hanbin doesn’t even let himself think twice about it. He bolts out of the room, out of the house, and does his version of the walk of shame back to his dorm.

When he gets there, he drops himself on the bed and falls asleep again.

Donghyuk wakes Hanbin up that late afternoon. “Hey,” he tries, but Hanbin doesn’t even move. Donghyuk shakes him harder, and Hanbin startles awake, limbs flying everywhere.

“What–” he tries. “What is it?”

Donghyuk laughs at Hanbin’s obvious confusion.

“It’s past 6PM,” Donghyuk tells him. “You should wake up unless you want to sleep through Saturday.”

Hanbin groans, but is thankful nonetheless. “Hm,” he makes a noise in acknowledgement. He’ll get up in a second.

He doesn’t really have any reason to apart from trying to salvage his sleep schedule. All his homework and reading for the week are done.

He sits up anyway, trying to shake the sleep out of himself.

“God,” he complaints. Donghyuk giggles at him from across the room.

“Slept well, princess?” Donghyuk asks.

“Too well,” Hanbin answers. There’s a memory linering in the back of his head, but he can’t quite reach it.

A few minutes later it all comes rushing back to him. Waking up in the guest room. Next to Jiwon. With all his clothes on, but still in the same bed.

“Fuck,” he curses and lets himself fall back on the bed. “I fucked up.”

“How?” Donghyuk wonders.

“Doesn’t matter,” Hanbin says, not wanting to let Donghyuk know the details.

“I heard you puked your guts out,” Donghyuk says, pouring salt on the wound.

Fuck, there’s nothing Hanbin can hide from his friends for too long. He makes a whiny noise, grabbing the pillow to cover his face with it.

“It’s fine, dude,” Donghyuk tries. “We’ve all had our rough nights.”

Hanbin doesn’t even bother answering.

A couple hours later Hanbin’s phone rings with a new text message. It’s Jiwon, and Hanbin isn’t sure if he even wants to read it.

“Hey, how you feeling?” It says.

“Better,” Hanbin sends back.

“Did you get some more sleep?”

“Yeah, you?”

“A little.”

Hanbin stares at his screen for a little longer until he gathers the courage to type, “I’m sorry I was such a mess last night.”

“It’s okay,” Jiwon sends back. “Don’t worry about it, you were pretty funny.”

Hanbin rolls his eyes even though Jiwon can’t see him. “That’s not a good thing.”

“Make it up to me then?” Jiwon asks in the next message.

“How?”

“Let me take you to dinner.”

Hanbin almost sends back a, “Why?” before he catches himself being a dumbass.

For a split second Hanbin wonders if this is all a big set up, and he’s going to show up for dinner and get pranked like on TV shows. But so far, Jiwon has never seemed like the kind of guy to be an asshole. Which only puzzles Hanbin further.

Hanbin can only come to the conclusion that Jiwon is indeed a great guy, he wants to check up on Hanbin, and he feels bad for him after Hanbin ruined his own night. And Jiwon’s by proxy. So Hanbin owes Jiwon double, once for the prior night, and another for the time he’s taking tonight to make Hanbin feel better.

The shame and guilt Hanbin feels right now is overwhelming.

He has to make things right, thank him, and apologize. And maybe then they can go back to friends.

Jiwon texts him the address of a pizza place near campus that Hanbin has never heard of.

“Best pizza in the neighborhood,” says Jiwon’s message. “I would know. I’ve been to every place near campus.”

Hanbin gets there five minutes early, anxious and worried. He picks a seat next to a window and waits.

Jiwon shows up soon after. “Hey,” he greets.

Hanbin smiles back. “Hey. How are you?”

“Better than you, probably.”

Hanbin blushes out of embarrassment. “Jerk,” he jokes.

Jiwon giggles. “Nah, but for real, how are you?”

“I’m okay. The last of my headache went away a couple hours ago.”

Jiwon looks at him fondly, and Hanbin isn’t sure what to make of it. “Good. You did quite a number last night.”

Hanbin closes his eyes and lets his head fall into his hands. “Don’t tell me,” he mumbles, but Jiwon doesn’t quite catch it.

“Come again?”

Hanbin takes a deep breath and repeats more clearly. “I don’t want to know,” he sighs. “I barely remember anything but I know it wasn’t good. Please, don’t tell me.”

Jiwon straight up laughs at him. “Dude, really, it wasn’t that bad. Nothing I haven’t done myself.”

“You don’t get it,” he says seriously. “I’m not good at this– This friends thing. I barely managed to get along with Jinhwan back in school, and the only reason why I have any other friends apart from him is because Jinhwan was willing to introduce me to his own.” Jiwon stays silent, so Hanbin goes on. “I’m already embarrassed enough, and you were so nice and kind to me and I ruined your night, and now I’m taking up more of your time. So please, whatever happened, whatever I said or did– Forget about it. If it were important I’m sure I’d remember it, anyway.”

Jiwon’s demeanor changes completely. It takes him a minute to speak, “It’s okay,” he nods. “Really. I understand where you’re coming from. But you didn’t ruin my night, okay? I had fun.” Jiwon gives him a soft smile and offers his hand up at Hanbin. “So, are we officially friends now?”

Hanbin smiles back, glad he didn’t fuck this up beyond repair, and shakes Jiwon’s hand. “Totally.”

A waiter comes up to them to take their order, and Hanbin and Jiwon agree on a regular cheese pizza and water, nowhere near ready to drink anything else.

“You promised, though–” Jiwon says out of nowhere. “To come to my football game tomorrow.”

Hanbin almost forgot about it. “Oh, yeah, of course. At six, right?”

Jiwon nods his head.

They make small talk until the food gets there, and Hanbin isn’t sure if he’s imagining it, but Jiwon seems quieter than usual. He can only trust Jiwon was being honest when he said things were okay.

Save the embarrassment of last night, Hanbin thinks he could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayy another chapter down. a hundred thank us to my love [noa](https://twitter.com/chanusdyke). as always, thank u for reading and comments keep me going. also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/slutjinhwan)


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